GrubGirl.

When you wake up in the morning in San Francisco and it’s already warm and the fog has burned off, you know it’s going to be a hot one. Gazpacho (or “gaspacho”) is a perfect recipe for cold tomato-based vegetable soup. It tastes better the more you let the pureed vegetable flavor blend together. I recommend at least an afternoon.

I always use my friend Chris’ recipe from many years back. I saw a similar gazpacho recipe posted on Allrecipes.com, submitted by Leia.

Thanks to Chris & Leia, here it is, with modifications listed:

INGREDIENTS

Cortez
550 Geary Blvd (betw Taylor & Jones)
San Francisco, CA, 94102
(415) 292-6360

Yes, Citysearch has given this place the $$$$ rating, so Grubgirl was resigned to get the most value out of this place, as she went there to meet up with a couple friends. You know how I feel about the whole small plates concept — I think it is a big rip off to the consumer. On the other hand, it is a shrewd move by business people, because…people ARE willing to pay those prices…so if the demand is there, why not keep supplying?

Boccadillos
710 Montgomery St. (a few doors down from the “it’s still in business?” Bubble Lounge)
SF, CA (North Beach)
415-982-2622

Read the Citysearch review

The price range was a bit outta the usual Grubgirl realm, but a few of the gals wanted to try out this relatively new North Beach haunt, so I sucked it up.

The one tough thing about eating tapas and small plates outside of Spain is the piddly bang for buck factor. You so don’t wanna know how much “everyday” dishes would cost if you were in Madrid or Barcelona.